How to Read a Korean Menu — A Traveler's Guide
Korean menus look intimidating for about ten minutes. Hangul is an alphabet, not a character set, so it can be sounded out in an afternoon, and Korean restaurants specialize as narrowly as Japanese ones — a stew house sells stews, a grill house sells grilled pork. The two things that actually catch travelers out are not the script. They are portion units, which are counted per person rather than per dish, and the free side dishes, which arrive unordered and are refilled without charge.
How a Korean menu is organized
Menus are grouped by cooking method rather than by course, and the group headings repeat across the country. Learn these and you can navigate a menu you cannot otherwise read.
| Korean | Romanization | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 고기 / 구이 | gogi / gui | Meat, grilled at your table |
| 찌개 | jjigae | Thick, bubbling stew served in a stone or metal pot |
| 탕 / 국 | tang / guk | Soup, thinner than jjigae, usually with rice |
| 면 | myeon | Noodles |
| 밥 | bap | Rice dishes |
| 분식 | bunsik | Cheap snack food — tteokbokki, gimbap, fried things |
| 안주 | anju | Dishes meant to be eaten while drinking |
| 세트 / 정식 | seteu / jeongsik | Set meal, one main plus rice and sides |
| 추천 | chucheon | The house recommendation |
| 대 / 중 / 소 | dae / jung / so | Large / medium / small portion |
Three units decide what actually arrives at your table. 1인분 (irinbun) means one person's portion, and grilled meat is priced this way rather than per plate — most barbecue restaurants will not serve fewer than two, so a menu marked 2인분 이상 means a two-portion minimum. 공기밥 (gonggibap) is a bowl of rice, and it is almost always charged separately from your stew, so order it explicitly if you want it. And 반찬 (banchan) — the row of small dishes covering your table — is free, unlimited, and refillable on request.
Common dishes you'll see on the menu
These thirty cover most of what appears on everyday Korean menus, from grill houses to bus-terminal soup counters.
| Korean | Romanization | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 김치찌개 | kimchi-jjigae | Kimchi stew | With pork or tuna; the default cheap lunch |
| 된장찌개 | doenjang-jjigae | Soybean paste stew | Earthy, mildly salty, not spicy |
| 순두부찌개 | sundubu-jjigae | Soft tofu stew | Arrives boiling; often comes with a raw egg |
| 부대찌개 | budae-jjigae | Army stew | Ham, sausage, instant noodles; shared, for two or more |
| 감자탕 | gamjatang | Pork spine and potato stew | Big shared pot, eat the meat off the bone |
| 해장국 | haejangguk | Hangover soup | Beef or pork broth; open at all hours |
| 삼계탕 | samgyetang | Ginseng chicken soup | Whole young chicken stuffed with rice; not spicy |
| 갈비탕 | galbitang | Beef short rib soup | Clear, gentle, a good non-spicy default |
| 국밥 | gukbap | Soup with rice | Rice served in or beside the broth |
| 삼겹살 | samgyeopsal | Grilled pork belly | Priced per person; you cook it yourself |
| 목살 | moksal | Grilled pork shoulder | Leaner alternative to samgyeopsal |
| 갈비 | galbi | Grilled short ribs | Marinated beef or pork; the celebration order |
| 불고기 | bulgogi | Marinated beef | Sweet soy marinade, mild, good for children |
| 제육볶음 | jeyuk-bokkeum | Spicy stir-fried pork | Served on a plate with rice, not grilled at table |
| 보쌈 | bossam | Boiled pork with wraps | Sliced pork eaten in cabbage leaves |
| 족발 | jokbal | Braised pig's trotters | Sliced cold, gelatinous, a late-night order |
| 비빔밥 | bibimbap | Mixed rice bowl | Rice, vegetables, egg; stir it hard before eating |
| 김치볶음밥 | kimchi-bokkeumbap | Kimchi fried rice | Reliable everywhere, mildly spicy |
| 냉면 | naengmyeon | Cold buckwheat noodles | 물 is in icy broth, 비빔 is in chili sauce |
| 칼국수 | kalguksu | Knife-cut noodle soup | Wheat noodles in anchovy or chicken broth |
| 잡채 | japchae | Stir-fried glass noodles | Sweet potato noodles with vegetables; not spicy |
| 라면 | ramyeon | Instant noodle soup | Made from a packet, and unapologetic about it |
| 떡볶이 | tteokbokki | Spicy rice cakes | The national street snack; sweet-hot |
| 김밥 | gimbap | Seaweed rice roll | Cheap, portable, endless fillings |
| 순대 | sundae | Blood sausage | Steamed, dipped in salt; sold beside tteokbokki |
| 만두 | mandu | Dumplings | Steamed (찐) or fried (군) |
| 치킨 | chikin | Korean fried chicken | 후라이드 plain or 양념 sauced; delivery staple |
| 파전 | pajeon | Scallion pancake | Larger versions add seafood (해물파전) |
| 회 | hoe | Raw fish | Sliced sashimi-style, eaten with chili paste |
| 돈까스 | donkkaseu | Breaded pork cutlet | Flatter and saucier than the Japanese version |
Words worth spotting for dietary reasons: 고기 (gogi, meat), 소고기 (sogogi, beef), 돼지고기 (dwaejigogi, pork), 닭 (dak, chicken), 생선 (saengseon, fish), 새우 (saeu, shrimp), 계란 (gyeran, egg), 채소 (chaeso, vegetable), 맵다 (maepda, spicy). Be aware that anchovy stock and fermented shrimp are standard in soups and in kimchi itself, so vegetable dishes are frequently not vegetarian.
Useful phrases for ordering
| Korean | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 여기요 | yeogiyo | Excuse me — used to call staff across the room |
| 영어 메뉴 있어요? | yeongeo menyu isseoyo? | Do you have an English menu? |
| 이거 주세요 | igeo juseyo | This one, please (while pointing) |
| 뭐가 맛있어요? | mwoga masisseoyo? | What is good here? |
| 두 명이요 | du myeongiyo | Two people |
| 안 맵게 해주세요 | an maepge haejuseyo | Not spicy, please |
| 반찬 더 주세요 | banchan deo juseyo | More side dishes, please |
| 공기밥 하나 주세요 | gonggibap hana juseyo | One bowl of rice, please |
| 물 주세요 | mul juseyo | Water, please |
| 포장해 주세요 | pojanghae juseyo | To take away, please |
| 계산해 주세요 | gyesanhae juseyo | The bill, please |
| 잘 먹었습니다 | jal meogeotseumnida | Thank you for the meal (said on leaving) |
Most restaurants have a 호출벨 (hochulbel), a call button on the table. Press it rather than waving. Where there is no button, calling 여기요 across the room is completely normal and not considered rude.
Prices, paying and tipping
There is no tipping in Korea. Service is included, staff will not expect anything, and leaving cash on the table usually results in someone chasing you down the street with it.
Prices on the menu include tax. You pay at the register on the way out rather than at the table — take the slip if one was left for you, or simply tell the cashier what you ate. Cards are accepted almost everywhere, including at small stalls, which makes Korea one of the easier countries to travel through without cash.
Lunch sets and stew houses are the best value in the country, typically well under half what a grill dinner costs for the same amount of food. Grilled meat is the expensive category, partly because the per-person minimum means a table of one pays for two.
Water is free and self-serve — look for a dispenser and a stack of steel cups near the door. Nobody will bring it to you.
Etiquette worth knowing
- Banchan is refillable at no charge, but taking a full refill and leaving it is considered wasteful. Ask for more of the one you actually like.
- Use the metal chopsticks for food and the long spoon for rice and soup. Holding both at once is the one habit locals notice.
- Do not lift the rice or soup bowl to your mouth; leave it on the table.
- At a grill, the youngest or most junior person at the table usually handles the tongs and scissors. As a visitor you can simply offer and follow their lead.
- When someone pours for you, hold your glass with two hands, and pour for others rather than for yourself.
- Meals are shared. Ordering one dish per person and eating only your own is not how a Korean table works.
When the menu has no English at all
Outside Seoul's central districts this is the normal case: a printed sheet of hangul on the wall, a laminated card with no photographs, a handwritten daily special taped over the price list. Photographing the menu and reading the translation before you order turns that wall into a list you can actually choose from — and it also tells you whether the stew in front of you is the mild soybean one or the chili-red one, which is the distinction most travelers wish they had made before the first spoonful.
FAQ
Are the side dishes really free? Yes. Banchan comes with the meal, refills are free, and asking for more is expected rather than cheeky. The exception is a few specialty items that appear as a priced line on the menu.
Can I eat alone in Korea? Increasingly yes — stew houses, gimbap shops, noodle counters and fried chicken places all serve single diners. Table barbecue is the hard case, because of the two-portion minimum. Some grill houses now offer single portions, but many do not.
How spicy is Korean food really? Less uniformly spicy than its reputation. Doenjang stew, samgyetang, galbitang, bulgogi, japchae and most grilled meats are mild. When you do want heat reduced, say an maepge haejuseyo at the time you order, since most spicy dishes are seasoned in the pot rather than at the end.